Paradise
by Rhapsodystar
Summary: Stranded on a picturesque island paradise, Picard and his crew have to adapt to a new life off the Enterprise. Warnings - Fluff, AU (Tasha is alive), Mild Language (No worse than is used on the show.)
1. Arrival

On a picturesque island, in the middle of a moonstone blue, glistening sea, there was a simple civilisation, the people were happy, healthy and prospering. It was on a small blue and green planet not unlike Earth, species from all over the known galaxy lived there in blissful harmony. On the beach on the northern side of the island, the tide swept across the sand to the rocks at the top of the beach, a Vulcan man watching from a house near the shore shook his head slowly as his sister came to stand next to him.

"New residents T'Pael." He said.

"Yes. Ten of them I should think Solak." She replied.

As the tide rushed back to the depths of the sea, ten people, apparently sleeping were left - mysteriously dry – on the sand. One of the ten sat up, his skin lightly shimmering in the weak early morning sunlight.

He went over to a woman lying on her side; he laid his hand gently on her shoulder,

"Tasha." He said, "Wake up."

Tasha Yar awoke at the sound of his voice. She rolled on to her back and sat up, "Data, where are we?"

"I do not know Tasha. The ecosystem of this island would appear to be Earth-like." He replied.

"Earth-like? How did we get here?" Tasha asked.

"Judging by our close proximity to the ocean, we washed ashore." Data replied.

Tasha ran her hand over the loose black t-shirt she was wearing, "If we washed up here, why aren't we wet?"

Across a little way from the two, a small boy was stirring; he opened his eyes and gasped in shock of where he found himself. The child's eyes flicked rapidly around the stretch of beach, he couldn't see his father in any direction so he got to his feet and walked over to Data and Tasha.

"Alexander? Are you alright?" Tasha asked.

He shook his head, "Have you seen my Father?"

Data looked around and he pointed to the rocks further up the beach, a tall man was sitting there, apparently looking for Alexander, "He is up there."

"Thank you." Alexander said cheerfully, running up to his father.

Tasha smiled as he ran off, stumbling on the loose sand as he went.

A little later, when everyone, Riker, Troi, Crusher, Picard, Worf, Geordi, Data, Tasha, Wesley and Alexander, had awoken, the sun began peek out from behind the white, cotton ball clouds.

"I have to say it." Crusher said as they walked up the beach.

"What?" Picard asked.

"This is paradise." Crusher replied.

"Well, I don't know about that…" Riker said with a smile.

"Oh?" Crusher asked.

"In my mind Paradise doesn't have a village in the middle of it." He replied.

They were coming over the rocks near the first house, by the symbol carved into the stone near the door; it was recognisable as a medical facility.

The Vulcan man was standing near the top of the rocks, he nodded to them as they got over the rocks.

"Greetings to you all. My name is Doctor Solak. The only trained medical personnel on the island." He said.

"Hello Doctor. We are from the Starship Enterprise. I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard." Picard replied.

"Starfleet? I thought as much." Solak said, "That means, like the other inhabitants of this island, you have no idea how you got here."

"Are you able to tell us?" Picard asked.

"Unfortunately, no. More than twenty years ago, my sister T'Pael and I washed up on that beach with no memory of how we got there." Solak replied.

Riker and Troi glanced at each other.

"What do you call this island?" Crusher asked.

"Paradise. Paradise Island." Solak said.

"Paradise Island?" Picard repeated.

Solak raised an eyebrow, "I believe that is what I said Captain."

"It was just that we were discussing our idea of, well, paradise a moment ago." Picard replied.

"Sir, if I may?" Data said.

"Of course mister Data." Picard replied, taking a step back to allow the Android to speak.

"I believe that if no one knows how they arrived on the island, there is no way of leaving." He said.

Solak put his hands behind his back, "I'm afraid you are correct- Data?"

"That is my name." Data replied.

Solak nodded, "There is no way of leaving until a way of arrival is found."

"So we're stuck here." Worf muttered.

Solak nodded again, "Unfortunately."

"Solak!" A female voice called from the village, a man and a woman were half running towards them.

Solak held up a hand, "Kayli! Izaac!"

The two came into clear vision, Kayli was of average height with brown hair and eyes, her skin was relatively unblemished and slightly tanned. Her clothing was of simple, undecorated pale green cloth. Izaac was also of average height, with blue/grey eyes and a slight greying to his mouse brown hair, suggesting that he was a little older than Kayli. His clothing was similarly simple and of a soft grey colour.

"We came as soon as we saw." Kayli said.

"I admire your dedication to the task I assigned you." Solak replied.

Izaac glanced at Picard, nearly instantly explaining Solak's role as some sort of leader. Self-proclaimed, voted or otherwise.

"Ah." Solak said, noticing the glance between the two men, "I apologise, Captain, these are Kayli and Izaac Roberts. They have been here seven years, the third longest time residents."

Kayli smiled, "You didn't need to mention that Solak."

Izaac ran a hand through his hair, "Shall we go back to the village?"

"The hall would be more suitable Izaac." Solak said.

"I'll get Nara, Eliz, Kerah and Kel." Kayli said.

Solak nodded to her and she headed back to the village, "Izaac, take them to the hall, I will join you in a moment."

Izaac nodded in response and began to lead the group to the hall.

"You'll have to excuse Solak." He said to Picard as they walked.

"Oh, how so?" Picard asked.

"He's the chosen leader of the people of the island." Izaac replied.

"As I thought." Picard said.


	2. Paradise

_A/N: A reviewer pointed out that I forgot Geordi when Picard introduces them, I was kicking myself! Poor Geordster's my favourite character! Anyway, I've fixed it now . :)_

_A/N2: Fictiongal pointed out that it's not obvious Picard and Riker are lying here, I've added a few words to make it a little more obvious I hope._

When the group arrived at the hall, a stone building with a thatched roof, Kayli and some of the other residents had already arrived. There was a Klingon couple and two Bajorians. There was also a Vulcan woman who Riker realised must be Solak's sister T'Pael.

T'Pael nodded to Izaac as they entered, "Solak _is _coming." She said.

Izaac nodded in acknowledgment by way of reply and went to stand next to Kayli.

Solak entered the building, the door quietly closing behind him as he came into the main hall.

"Welcome, Captain, to Paradise Island." He said, "Here, we aim to live peacefully and preserve the beauty of this landscape."

He walked across the wooden floor, his shoes barely making a sound, "These people are our longest residents. Kayli and Izaac you have already met of course."

Picard nodded silently.

Solak looked at the pair of Bajorians; they took a step forward, "Our second longest residents, Corpus Nara and Corpus Eliz. They live on the outer most house in the village."

Nara nodded to Picard, "My daughter and I aim to make you all feel welcome. If you need something done, or a question answered, do not hesitate to ask." He said.

Solak glanced at him to be sure he had finished speaking, the Vulcan man walked across the floor again, T'Pael winced slightly.

"The next pair I wish you to meet are our fourth longest residents; they have lived here six years, Kel and Kerah."

The Klingon couple stepped forth, the male spoke, "I am Kel, and my wife is Kerah." He said, "We live in the house near the rocks at the north of the village."

"That is also our shop. We have a good many items." Kerah said, Tasha got the feeling she wasn't someone to mess with.

"Yes." Kel said, "We do. Kerah also runs the village school."

"School?" Crusher asked.

"Yes. The room at the back of the Hall. That is our school. It isn't very big, but that is alright, there are only our two children on the island." Kerah replied.

Wesley wondered what it would be like to have a six-foot Klingon woman for a schoolteacher…

"Alexander will be joining them." Worf said.

"Yes." Kerah said, looking at Alexander, half hiding behind his father.

"He's part human isn't he?" Kel asked.

Worf straightened slightly, "He is."

Kel nodded in acknowledgement, "Nothing wrong with that. He just appears to be a little small."

Kerah rolled her eyes, "He is taller than Korin." _'And he's an eighth human.'_ She added silently.

Riker and Picard glanced at each other, what was this about?

From the back of the Hall, Solak gently tapped on the floor with his foot, Kel and Kerah looked at him along with the rest of the group.

"Captain, would you mind introducing your crew?" He asked.

"Ah, yes." Picard said, he gestured to Riker, "My first officer, William T. Riker."

Riker nodded to the group.

"Counsellor Deanna Troi."

Troi smiled, "Hello."

Picard decided to drop ranks, "Natasha Yar." He said.

"Tasha." Tasha said with a small smile.

"Mister Data."

Data nodded.

"Geordi La Forge." Picard said.

Geordi gave a small smile.

"Doctor Beverly Crusher, and her son, Wesley." He said.

Riker was sure he saw Solak's eyes light up at that…

"Mister Worf, and his son, Alexander."

Worf nodded, Alexander smiled and stepped out from behind his father.

"And I am Jean-Luc Picard." Picard finished with a smile.

"We'll all try our best to make you feel comfortable." Kayli said, smiling.

A few minutes after this meeting, while the crew were getting to know the Island residents, Solak disappeared.

Riker had been watching him and had seen him slip out of the door.

He walked over to Picard calmly, "Where do you suppose Solak's gone?" He asked, noticing that Picard had been watching the Vulcan too.

Picard looked up at the taller, younger man, "I don't know, anywhere I suppose. Will, this is a very delicate subject I am about to touch upon. How will we approach life on this island? We can't keep acting like we are going to find away back to the Enterprise. Solak said it was impossible. We can only assume he says that because he has spent a considerable amount of the twenty years he's spent here attempting to leave."

"Didn't he say 'more than twenty years'? He could have spent so long trying that he forgot how long." Riker replied.

"Hmm… That is a possibility. So I think we can agree that neither of us is to attempt to find away home." Picard said with a strange tinge of deception to his voice.

"Start a new life. Turn over a new page." Riker said with a similar tinge, "That suits me."

Picard nodded, the door opened a little, Solak had returned. He walked over to them, "Will you two come with me?"

They didn't question and followed. Solak led them into the village to four near identical houses.

"You can live here." Solak said, gesturing to three of the houses.

Riker looked at the houses, trying to work out who would live with who, they were to the south of the village, with a clear view of the beach where they had washed up. Remembering what Kayli had said about seeing them arrive, he guessed that the house to the far left belonged to the Roberts'.

"Should we get the others?" He asked.

"Wouldn't it be better to view the houses first?" Picard asked him before Solak could answer.

Riker agreed and Solak led them to the first house, "As far as anyone here can tell, the island somehow automatically prepares its newest residents' homes with everything they will need including personal items from their original home." He said.

"_How _personal?" Riker asked.

Solak looked up at the sky – a mesmerising shade of duck egg-blue – in thought, "Instruments – the piano in the hall is mine – Clothing, things one could not possibly live without… as personal as they themselves would make it."

Picard pictured the piano in his mind, a splendid upright with 52 keys, rosewood, certainly a very personal item, and, judging by the extra pedal he had just happened to notice, personalised and specially made, not something you would regularly see.

"So, by this, we can tell who lives where and with whom." He said.

Solak nodded, "Exactly." He held down the latch on the handle with one hand and pushed the door open.

The room they immediately entered was near empty, with only a coat rack with two coats hanging on it. One was pale blue and fleecy, the other thick and dark grey.

Riker took the blue coat down, "Deanna's winter coat, and mine."

Picard nodded slowly, "So Will and Deanna will be living here together."

Solak looked around the small cloakroom, noticing a blue and grey mountain landscape, "It would seem so." He turned to the painting, "Do you recognise this?"

Riker smiled, "It's one of Data's. He gave it to me on my last birthday."

"It's very good." Solak said.

"It would be. He spent six months on it." Riker said, hanging Deanna's coat up again.

Solak opened the door into the main house, having to unbolt it, "After you."

Riker and Picard entered, it was clean, there was a canvas sofa and Armchair with soft lavender blankets over the fabric. There was a sturdy wooden coffee table and a pleasant sized fireplace.

Solak closed the door, "May I say, this is a more homely layout than in my own house."

Riker smiled broadly at the Vulcan, "Thank you."


	3. Home

After Riker had fully inspected the house, ("Everything exactly as it would be if I'd unpacked it all and Deanna had rearranged it twice." He reported.)It was decided that it would be a good idea to discover the other living arrangements.

The second house was the third of the houses the island had chosen. The door was stiff and a little too big for its frame.

Solak took six minutes attempting to open the door before deciding they should try the second house chosen.

"The Island can be very particular about things like this." He said.

"Solak talks about the island like it's alive." Riker said to Picard.

"Perhaps it appears so. The events have continually seemed to be the act of a sentient being." Picard replied.

"Excuse me." Solak said from a little way ahead, "The Island is waiting."

Picard distinctly felt the earth beneath his feet shift slightly…

"Then we mustn't keep it waiting." He said.

"Right." Riker said in agreement.

They walked up to join Solak, the door was already open. As they stepped inside, they found it had the same basic layout of its next door neighbour. There were four coat hooks, one more than the three the Island claimed were needed next door. The green and blue coats needed no identification because of the embroidered initials on them, 'BC' and 'WC', but the grey coat made no particular impact, except perhaps of having a unusual scent – Starship closet with a touch of clay. Picard couldn't stop himself from smiling, Paradise Island was certainly correct with its choices of living arrangements. The house was, once again, as personal as its residents would choose, but Picard didn't know if he – or Beverly- would pick pale red blankets for the canvas furniture and experimentally drawing the matching coloured curtains caused the room to be flooded with a peculiar red light. White would have been a more obvious choice he supposed but if the Island had chosen the colours as they would have personally done so it must have assumed that an argument would ensue over the colours and decided on a stalemate.

"You could change the colour." Solak said, noticing his distaste and apparently sharing it, "White would be a more practical colour. I'll ask Kayli for you."

"Yes, red isn't the best of colours for curtains." Picard replied.

"The Island can be a little unusual in its choices. But it will agree if you change it."

Picard wasn't quite listening; the clothing choices were obviously more suited to the Island, but red and black, blue and black and grey and red? Anyone would think they were being deliberately linked to the Enterprise.

"Shall we move on?" He asked.

"If you wish." Solak said.

They went to the last of the houses, this time the door opened with little resistance. It was the same size as the others outside, but it seemed larger inside. There were six coat hooks, four of them in use.

"That rounds the rest of us up." Riker said.

Picard agreed, "Yes, it does seem that way."

A noise from inside the main house made them turn, Solak opened the door, a red tabby cat was sitting on the coffee table. Apparently the Island had thought to include their animals in the arrangement. Picard remembered catching sight of an aquarium in his house. Spot had obviously made herself at home there. She gave a contented 'Miaow' as they entered. The wall leading up the stairs was covered with paintings and up the stairs there were three other bedrooms.

"Is everything in order?" Solak asked as they came down the stairs.

Riker risked stroking Spot's back, "Yes, perfect."

Solak nodded, "Then we shall go and retrieve the others."

He left the main house leaving Riker and Picard to follow him in their own time.

"_Retrieve_ the others?" Riker repeated with a smile.

"That is what he said." Picard said, laughing slightly, "He'll be coming to 'retrieve' us if we don't follow."

Riker nodded and they headed to the door, Spot followed them. Riker picked her up and placed her on one of the Armchairs, "You stay here." He warned her.

They left the house and walked back to the hall, avoiding the rabbit holes and deep tracked footprints.

"I've been thinking." Riker said.

"Oh?" Picard replied.

"We're obviously going to be informal here, so it'll be different, for everyone. But we'll adapt, won't we?" He explained.

Picard nodded, "In time. This island will feel like home within a matter of months."

They had already reached the hall and, pushing the door open, they saw that the others were standing with bags of things given to them by the residents to help them adjust.

Solak gave them a nod from the low platform in the center of the hall.

"We know where we are to be living." Picard announced, "And I expect that we will be very happy for as long as we are here."

"The houses are at the south end of the village. Facing the shore." Riker added.

"Near our house." Kayli said.

Riker nodded, "They're as personal as if everything had been unpacked, rearranged and repeated."

Picard then noticed that except the Roberts' and Solak everyone else had left, "I expect you all to treat each other equally, as if we were never in Starfleet. Ordinary people, living ordinary lives."

"We're going to abandon ranks and start a new life." Riker said.

"That sounds about right, new place new start." Geordi said.

"Exactly. I don't expect any of you to try to forget about our past lives, but I do expect you not to dwell on them." Picard said.

"Let's go home." Riker said.

They left the hall, Kayli instantly following, Izaac stayed briefly behind with Solak, "Solak, I want to mention something to you now, because you'll ask me why I didn't tell you earlier." He said, "Tasha appears to have a problem with her back, she winces when she bends, limps slightly when she walks, half leans on Data's shoulder constantly."

Solak nodded in acknowledgement, "I'll keep an eye on her. Now, Kayli will come back for you if you don't go now."

Izaac smiled slightly, "I know. I'll see you later Solak."

Solak watched Izaac leave the hall, as soon as he'd left, Solak also left the hall, thinking Izaac's words as he walked.

Back at the village, Kayli was standing waiting for Izaac. Troi, watching from her doorway, came out into the front area.

"Kayli, are you alright?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, but Izaac isn't here yet." The other woman replied.

"He'll be here soon." Deanna said.

"Yes, Izaac always moves like a tortoise." She said, "I'll see you Deanna, I said I'd help Beverly with her curtains anyway."

Deanna smiled, "I'll see you later."

She went into the house, Will had disappeared somewhere, "Will?" She called, coming up the stairs.

He turned from the window, "Deanna, come see this view." He said.

She crossed the room to join him, with waves crashing against the rocks and the duck-egg blue sky it was truly beautiful. Paradise to the mark.

He put an arm around her shoulder, "If we were here by choice, we wouldn't have this view." He said, "Solak said 'We do not choose the Island. The Island chooses us. That is why this is Paradise.'"

"That's very poetic." Deanna replied moving closer into his side.

Will kissed the top of her head, "Everything Solak says is poetic."

Next door, Beverly and Kayli were knelt on the floor, sewing white linen into curtains. Wesley watched them from the stairs, he kept glancing around the room, not only was watching the two women sewing dull, the room's contents were a strange mixture of the ordinary contents of the Island houses, things belonging to him and his mother and scattered around were books belonging to Picard. Why were books off the shelves and scattered up and down the stairs? Because there were too many books to fit _on_ the shelves.

Picard came down the stairs and crouched next to Wes.

"I wonder, do you think there's enough room to build a library on this island?"

Wes turned to him, "Are there really that many books?"

Picard nodded, "Yes," He looked at the three books he was carrying, "and I didn't realise that I had three copies of _The History of Art_."

"Why do you have three copies?" Wes asked.

"I think people kept giving me them." He nodded slightly, "I received two of them in the same week."

Wes smiled, "Maybe there is_ some_ space."

Picard smiled back, "There must be, but I have to find a temporary place for the books on the stairs."

Wes laughed slightly, "The books on the stairs could have their _own _Library."

Kayli glanced over at the two on the stairs.

"Wesley seems like a nice boy." She said.

Beverly looked up, "He is, but he's grown up around Starfleet, he'll find this difficult."

"Adapting to this new life. Any child would. The most advanced technology we have here are two replicators and a twenty-first century music player." Kayli said.

"A music player from the _twenty-first century_?" Beverly repeated in disbelief.

"It belongs to T'Pael. Between you and me, she's a little obsessed with the twentieth and early Twenty-first centuries." Kayli explained.


	4. Shadows

_A/N: Sorry, I had to get Hushabye Mountain in there some where!_

A few days later, Geordi and Worf were half walking, half clambering over the rocks to the east of the island.

"God, these boots are awful for things like this." Geordi moaned as he stumbled on the smooth grey rocks for what must have been the seventh time.

Worf nodded in agreement, glancing at the waves moving lazily over the lowest rocks around forty metres down from them.

"Geordi, why are we here?" He asked.

"What, on the Island?" Geordi replied.

"No. On the rocks." Worf said.

Geordi paused to tip sand from his boot, the air smelt of sea salt and wood smoke, an unusual combination, but a pleasant one. The sky was the same shade of mesmerising duck-egg blue as when they had arrived and the sea was calm.

"I don't know. It seemed like a good idea to come down here half an hour ago."

Worf nodded again, "It did."

Geordi suddenly wondered why his friend kept nodding… then he realised that there was a cave up ahead; and it looked very interesting for some reason.

"Let's go to that cave." He said, pointing to it.

They walked across to the cave, the ground inside it was covered with smooth black pebbles, the walls smooth and damp and the roof of the cave was high and impressive. The slight vibration that brushed the floor was barely noticeable, but a low drone that reached Worf's ears was impossible to ignore.

"Do you hear that?" He asked as they stood at the entrance.

Geordi looked around, "What? I don't hear anything…"

Worf briefly explained about the noise.

"Maybe it stopped." Geordi suggested.

Worf shook his head, the irritating drone was still as strong and clear as when they had entered.

"Anyway, your ears are better with low sounds than mine." Geordi said, "Now are we gonna explore this cave or not?"

The two of them walked deeper into the cave, through twisting, turning, dizzying tunnels, and haunting, shadowy chambers and along thin, terrifyingly high ledges. They reached a place where the rock face was too smooth to be natural, too dark, and too cold.

"Metal." Geordi said, examining it closely, "Blended into the rock in a very clever way."

"But not clever enough." Worf replied.

Geordi nodded, "No, plaster and paint can't cover something this size realistically."

The two of them searched the metal for a use or a reason for it being there, when they heard a shout from further into the cave above them.

"Geordi! Worf!" The voice echoed through the tunnels and faded to nothingness at the metal.

"Worf! Geordi!" The voice was sterner this time and accompanied by a set of footsteps.

The footsteps became louder until a few minutes later, Kel emerged from a tunnel on a ledge above them.

"The whole village's been looking for you for hours!"

"Well, we don't have a watch between us, and we didn't keep any note of the time we came in here." Geordi called back.

Kel rubbed the back of his neck slowly, "Five hours at least. Maybe more. Scared the hell out of Beverly, Tasha and Deanna. Alexander's spent the whole time scared out of his mind with Kayli."

The two looked at each other; the rest of the group had not crossed their minds.

"We're in trouble." Geordi said and Worf agreed.

Kel marched them back to the village and up to the hall.

When they entered, they couldn't have imagined what happened next, instead of shouting, they were met with Beverly, Deanna and Tasha hugging them and crying with relief, there was the usual 'Where have you been' and 'We were so worried about you', but it was lost in the tearful relief coming from the three of them.

"You're in trouble when we get home." Tasha said, attempting to hug both of them at the same time.

"You scared us all." Deanna said.

"Especially Alexander. He wouldn't stop crying." Beverly added, stepping back.

They suddenly felt like they were being told off… Just in time, the door opened and closed behind them, Kayli was standing there, with Alexander clutching her hand.

The six year old ran over to his father, Worf hugged him tight, apologising over and over.

"Where were you?" Alexander asked.

"On the rocks. In a cave. No where interesting." Worf replied.

"But you were gone ages!"

"It was a big cave."

"The biggest cave's on the beach we arrived on. It's in the book in the school room." Alexander said.

"Well I think that book might need updating, the cave on the rocks was much bigger and there was a metal door across one chamber down there." Geordi explained.

"Hm? Oh, that, yes, it was put in years ago to stop…" Kayli began, trailing off as she realised that she had no idea what she was talking about.

"Uh-huh…" Geordi said, adjusting his visor slightly.

Later that evening, after Geordi and Worf had been told off five times (By Tasha, Deanna, Beverly, Will and Alexander); sitting in the house of Picard and the Crushers, they began to chat about the stranger aspects of the island.

"The whole island seems to shift on Solak's word, I swear, I've felt the ground move towards him twice." Will said.

"I think we've all felt that. Notice how he talks about it like it's a person standing next to him?" Tasha asked.

"Yes, I noticed that too, there seems to be something going on here." Beverly replied.

"Kayli was acting strangely too, Geordi, you mentioned a metal door in a cave, she started to apparently explain it before being utterly confused." Deanna put in.

Geordi nodded, "Yeah, there's this large metal door covered in plaster and paint across one chamber of this massive cave Worf and I found. She kinda began explaining it then didn't know what she was talking about."

"Did anything else strange happen today?" Picard asked.

"Yes." Worf replied, "Down in the cave, there was an irritating sound."

"Well, I couldn't hear it. But whatever it was it seemed to bug you." Geordi said.

Data looked around at the group; The Island appeared to have a hypnotic effect on them, Worf and Geordi going down to the cave, the ground appearing to move, everyone, apparently settling in perfectly in three days.

"Now, I want to know, have any of you been searching for a way off this Island?" Picard asked.

Will scratched the back of his ear; he had been looking for the last two days, whenever he could slip away, down to the coast, wading as far as he could out into the sea, and not once had he found a way.

He had come close. On a small island off the coast, there was a tumbledown cottage, someone had lived there once, and there was a small boat. It had reminded him of a song from an old film.

A gentle breeze from Hushabye Mountain_**[1]**_

Gently blows o'er Lullaby Bay

It fills the sails of boats that are waiting

Waiting to sail your troubles away

"Anyone? No one has even explored the coastline?" Picard asked.

Will decided to come clean, "I've been looking for the last two days."

Picard nodded, "Well, I'm not surprised; I myself have scouted the coast once or twice."

"We'll never get over the Enterprise. It's our home. Our real home." Wesley said.

There was general agreement with this statement.

"We don't belong here. We should be on the Enterprise." Tasha said, dragging her shoe against the floorboards.

Beverly gave her a sharp glare, one that very clearly said 'Stop doing that to my floor!'

Picard sighed, looking to Alexander who had fallen asleep against Worf's shoulder.

"Perhaps we should all get a good night's sleep and talk about this in the morning." He said.

"Wait, tomorrow is Wednesday isn't it? Doesn't Solak call council on Wednesday?" Tasha asked.

"He does, yes." Picard replied. They all, even Alexander, knew that Wednesday evening was taken over by Solak calling the adult residents to the hall to talk about the events of the last week and the week so far.

"Tasha, you've made up excuses about not wanting to go to council the twice it's been called while we've been here." Geordi said.

"I know, but I've been thinking," Tasha said, leaning forwards, "Solak knows everything about this island, and we could ask him about this."

Picard nodded, "Good thinking Tasha, I'll keep that in mind."

"I was wondering, could I come this week? Nothing ever happens so there won't be anything really to miss if someone else stayed with Alexander." Tasha said.

"I don't see why not. Does anyone volunteer to stay here?" Picard said in reply.

"Oh, I'll stay here." said Beverly, "I've got a few things to do."

"Then it's decided. Beverly, you will stay here with Alexander and Tasha, you will come to council." Picard replied.

* * *

[1] A/N: Sorry, I had to get Hushabye Mountain in there some how


End file.
